When Jack Forest cleared the way to help make the 751-acre Wallace L. Forest Conservation Area in memory of his father a reality, he didn’t envision a battleground a quarter of a century later.

The Bureau of Land Management, which has managed the site on east Lake Coeur d'Alene since 2003, has proposed a phased plan to selectively log 616 acres of the site to ease wildfire danger, improve existing non-motorized trails, build mountain bike trails on the steep 94-acre northwest corner of the area and add gravel parking spots.

"The area needs to be thinned out and cleaned up — I'm not against that at all — but I've got mixed emotions about the bicycle part of it," Forest said. "When I sold part of it and donated part of it, bicycles never came up because they weren't popular at that time."

As residents voiced their opinions about BLM's proposal during the public comment period, which ended Friday, some wanted to know the input of the Forest family on the site’s future.

Forest acknowledged he's no longer in control of the site, but offered his thoughts when contacted by The Press.

"If a few bikes were allowed that's one thing, but I'd be against competitive meets," he said.

Forest said if narrow and winding Yellowstone Trail Road is used by an increasing number of bicyclists either getting to the site or returning to their vehicles after a ride, that would pose a safety concern.

Kurt Pavlat, BLM field manager, said his agency is well aware of the concern and, in cooperation with the East Side Highway District, would pursue federal highway grants to improve the highway.

Forest said he envisioned the property to remain a conservation area for the public to enjoy with minimal development and improvements.

"It doesn't belong to the neighbors; it belongs to everybody," he said. "I'd like to see something that looks like Idaho, especially with everything being subdivided."

Forest said he's proud of the improvements that have been made to the site so far, including a dock and restrictions on target practice and motorized recreational vehicles. He also recently met with Pavlat to discuss the future of the site.

Forest said he would also like to see pilings added to a shallow area of the bay so visitors can watch osprey. He said BLM has been criticized for taking out the old pilings that were rotting, but that decision was made under a lake management program, not by the BLM.

Forest said the public and BLM will have to settle their differences on the future of the area and there may not be clear-cut answers in some cases.

"Nothing is ever perfect and everybody has their own idea," he said. "I don't think the use of the site needs to be changed a whole lot."

Pavlat said BLM will develop a final environmental assessment based on the public comments. The assessment is expected to be completed by December. It will be a public document, and Pavlat said he will issue his decision on the plan in January or February.

The public will then have 30 days to appeal the recreation portion of the plan and 15 days to protest the forestry part of the plan.

"By far, the recreation portion has been more controversial," Pavlat said. "We didn't have any idea that the mountain biking part would be so controversial. We thought it would be the type of use that almost everybody would agree with."

Pavlat said any improvements would be made over several years so the entire area wouldn't be impacted at once. The fossil fuels reduction program would start next year.

Pavlat said the costs of the improvements, including signs, a restroom, and parking lots, would be covered with proceeds from timber sales from the property. Volunteers, he said, would improve the trails. No new roads are planned in the proposal.

Residents who live near the area formed an advisory committee that developed a report based on input from the public and agencies. The report was submitted to the BLM to be entered into the record.

"The committee formed because the EA (environmental assessment) did not address the concerns from area residents and the impacts (of the proposal)," said Loretta Zabka, the committee's secretary.

The report includes public testimony about the proposal and states in bold letters that, based on some of that testimony, a BLM employee and co-author of the plan rides mountain bikes with a group that supports the plan.

Zabka said the committee is awaiting results of an information request to the BLM in Boise to substantiate the conflict of interest claim.

However, Pavlat calls the claim "categorically false." He said the employee rarely even rides a mountain bike.

"That's character assassination," he said, referring to the claim. "Why they would make such an outlandish statement is beyond me. We find it very unfortunate."

Pavlat said the committee forming and gathering input for the record was a good thing, but there are multiple inadequacies he intends to address. Pavlat said he has requested an audio copy of the meeting because he believes he was misquoted in the committee's report.

Pavlat said when BLM conducted the scoping process for the project last year, the agency did what it could to reach out to all local residents for public input despite claims it only reached out to the mountain biking community. He said much of the input as a result of outreach efforts was from mountain bikers.

"We sent out postcards to those individuals who own property adjacent to the conservation area, ran ads in the local newspapers and posted it online," he said. "We felt that we did everything that we could short of knocking on doors within a 3-mile radius, but that was just not possible."

Pavlat said he believes some residents oppose any changes whatsoever and are treating the conservation area as if it's their own backyard, but it was created for all Americans to enjoy.